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THE 

DIFFICULTIES AND TEMPTATIONS WHICH ATTEND THE 
PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL IN GREAT CITIES.- 




SERMON, 



PREACHED IN 



THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 

IN THE CITY OF BALTIMORE, 
October 19, 1820 ; 



AT 



Cfje #r&tnation anH Installation 



THE REVEREND WILLIAM NEVINS, 



AS PASTOR OF SAID CHURCH. 






BY SAMUEL MILLER, B. B. 

PROFESSOR OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY AND CHURCH GOVERNMENT, IN THE 
THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE 
. , UNITED STATES. AT PRINCETON. 



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- 

S BALTIMORE : N&' Was 

PRINTED BY J. ROBINSON, CIRCULATING LIBRARY^ 

Corner of Market and Belvidere-stieets. 

1820. 






The following Discourse was delivered at the 
request of the Presbytery of Baltimore ; and, in com- 
pliance with a vote of that Venerable Body, accom- 
panied by a similar vote of the Session and Board of 
Trustees of the First Presbyterian Church of Balti- 
more, it is now committed to the press. 

In consequence of a severe indisposition under 
which the preacher laboured, several parts of the 
First Head, and the whole of the Second, were 
omitted in the delivery. The whole is now sub- 
mitted to the candour of the publick, with the hope 
and prayer that it may be in some degree useful. 
Princeton, October 25th, 1820. 



THE DIFFICULTIES AND TEMPTATIONS WHICH ATTEND 
THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL IN GREAT CITIES: 



A SERMON. 



Romans i. 15, 16. 
SO) as much as in me is, J am ready to preach the 
Gospel to you that are at Rome also : for I am 
not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. 

It is not known when, or by whom, the Gospel was 
first preached in the city of Rome. Indeed the whole 
of the early history of the Church of Rome is in- 
volved in great obscurity; as if it had been expressly 
designed by infinite Wisdom, to discredit the claims 
of those who pretend to trace a regular descent, and 
to derive supreme ecclesiastical power, through the 
first Bishop of that Church. It was probably, how- 
ever, one of the first planted of the Gentile churches; 
perhaps by some of those who were scattered abroad 
by the persecution which followed the death of Ste- 
phen; or possibly earlier than even this: for among 
those who heard the Apostle Peter preach on the day 
of Pentecost, and who were converted on that me- 





morable occasion, are mentioned strangers of Rome. 
These Roman Jews, on their return home, would not 
fail to proclaim to others the same precious Gospel 
which they had heard in Jerusalem; and, we may 
suppose, were instrumental in making a number of 
converts to the Christian faith. It is highly probable 
that the Church of Home was founded thus early ; 
for the historian Tacitus tells us, that in the time of 
JVero, the Christians in that city were a " very great 
multitude :"* — And when the Apostle wrote his Epistle 
to them, (which is generally supposed to have been 
about the year 57, or 58) their faith, we are informed, 
tvas spoken of throughout the world. 

The city of Rome was now at the height of its 
glory. It was the Metropolis of the world : — the 
great centre of all that was refined, scientifick, splen- 
did, luxurious, and fashionable in the whole Empire. 
There the wisdom of the wise, the power of the 
mighty, the magnificence of the rich and noble, and 
the licentious refinements of the sensual, held a sove- 
reign and most imposing reign. 

The Apostle Paul, at the date of this Epistle, had 
never been in Rome. He had, indeed, as he tells the 
Romans in this chapter, long earnestly desired, and 
often intended, to pay them a visit, but had been 
hitherto prevented. But he was still, as he intimates, 
ardently desirous of going, and intent upon it. As 

* Annal. xv. 44. 



much as in me is, J am ready to preach the Gospel 
to you that are at Rome also ; for I am not ashamed 
of the Gospel of Christ. As if he had said — " Not- 
44 withstanding all the splendour and luxury, and 
44 fashionable philosophy, and hostility to the religion 
44 of Jesus Christ, which I know reigns at Rome, I 
44 am ready to go thither, and bear my simple, hum- 
44 bling message, I am ready to go even to imperial 
44 Rome, though I am aware that the rich, the great, 
" and the learned of that splendid Metropolis, will all 
46 be likely to be arrayed against me ; — still I am ready 
44 and desirous to go thither and preach the Gospel : 
"for I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ ; for 
44 it is the power of God unto salvation to every one 
44 that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the 
44 Greek." 

By the Gospel we are to understand the glad tidings 
of salvation by a crucified Redeemer. That wonder- 
ful message, which informs man that he is a guilty, 
depraved, and miserable sinner ; but which, at the 
same time, announces to him, that there is redemption 
through the blood of Christ, even the forgiveness of 
sins, according to the riches of his grace : — which 
proclaims, that in consequence of the fall of the first 
Man, his posterity are, by nature, condemned, pol- 
luted, and utterly unable to deliver themselves; but 
that God so loved the world that he gave his only be- 
gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him might not 



8 

perish, but have everlasting life. That this eternal 
Son of God, equal with the Father in all Divine per- 
fections, in the fulness of time, appeared in our world, 
in the nature and likeness of man ; that in this 
mysterious union of very God and very man in the 
same glorious Person, He obeyed and suffered as the 
substitute of his people ; that, as their Covenant-Head, 
He made a complete atonement for all their sins, and 
brought in everlasting righteousness for their justifica- 
tion; and that all who, from the heart, believe in 
Him, whosoever will accept of mercy, whether Greek 
or Jew, Barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, are washed 
and justified, and sanctified, in the name of the Lord 
Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God ; and shall be 
made perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God 
to all eternity. 

This is that Gospel which shines in every page of 
Paul's Epistles ; which he solemnly resolved to preach, 
and to preach nothing else; and which he was ear- 
nestly desirous of proclaiming in Rome. 

I propose to embrace and illustrate the leading 
thoughts implied in our text, in the following pro- 
positions. 

I. There are peculiar difficulties and tempta- 
tions which attend the preaching of the Gospel in 
great cities; — and 

II. It is of peculiar importance that the Gospel 
be plainly and faithfully preached in such places. 



9 

I. There are peculiar difficulties and tempta- 
tions which attend the preaching of the Gospel in 

GREAT CITIES. 

It is not my purpose, at present, to speak of the 
difficulties and temptations which attend the Gospel 
Ministry in general, and every where ; but of those 
alone which may be considered as, in some degree, 
peculiar to great cities. 

And, in entering on this branch of the subject, I 
need not say, that human nature is the same, both 
in city and country ; and that the same general vir- 
tues and vices are to be found in both But it can 
scarcely, I think, be doubted, that particular circum- 
stances in both, are productive of appropriate effects, 
and confer upon the state of society in each an ap- 
propriate aspect. There is, if I mistake not, a sort 
of intensity of character imparted to the inhabitants 
of great cities ; an intensity generated and nourished, 
by the almost constant intercourse of persons of like 
taste and employment, and by the unceasing stimu- 
lants which such intercourse is calculated to apply. 
In no places on earth, assuredlv, do we find such 
extremes of character ; such exalted virtue, and 
diabolical vice ; such fervent piety, and daring pro- 
faneness ; such noble generosity, and sordid selfish- 
ness, as in great cities. We are told, that, in the 
land of our fathers, the phrase, " London piety" is 
often employed to express the highest degree of 

2 



10 

heavenly-mindedness ; and sC London vice" the most 
degrading and shocking depravity. We may apply 
the same remark, with some degree of propriety, to 
every great city. Cities are commonly the grand 
theatres on which both the good and the bad dis- 
play their greatest energies. Now, as in all society, 
the bad form by far the larger part ; and as their 
follies and vices are heightened by the circumstances 
in which they are placed in a great city ; there, of 
course, we must expect to find, in its most concen- 
trated virulence, whatever is hostile to the purity and 
simplicity of the gospel, and whatever is opposed to 
the success and the enjoyment of a Gospel Minis- 
ter. But to be more particular. 

1 . The accumulated wealth, and the consequent 
luxury and dissipation of a great City, form a 
serious obstacle to the plain and faithful preaching of 
the Gospel. 

If wealth were generally employed, as some pious 
individuals have employed it, to promote the spread 
of the Gospel, and the happiness of mankind ; it 
would indeed be a real blessing, and its increase 
highly to be desired. But, alas ! in this depraved 
world, how seldom is wealth thus employed ! It is 
too commonly made to minister to the vanity and 
the lusts of its possessors ; and thus becomes a curse 
both to them, and to all around them. But in great 
Cities, where many wealthy individuals are brought 



11 

together, and where the principle of competition and 
display maintains such a peculiarly powerful influ- 
ence ; there the " pomps and vanities of the world" 
hold an almost undisputed reign. There magnificent 
houses, grand equipages, splendid dress, and expen- 
sive entertainments, form, with multitudes, the am- 
bition, and the business of life. There the unceasing 
effort of many, to rival those above them, to outstrip 
equals, and to dazzle inferiours, is the grand object, 
which keeps up the constant fever of anxious pur- 
suit. 

While splendid living is the idol of one class, vari- 
ous kinds of amusement, commonly called pleasure, 
employ and corrupt a much larger class. The theatre 
— the card-table — the dance — the midnight revel, and 
every form of dissipation, are summoned to their aid 
to kill time, or to season the insipidity of sober life. 
Amusements are multiplied, and combined, and varied, 
and reiterated, until they become the chief, and, with 
many, the sole employment. And even some of those 
who are not engaged in these pursuits themselves, are 
so connected by various ties with those who are, that 
they cannot escape the contagious influence. Cast 
an eye, my friends, over any populous city, and say 
whether the picture is not below rather than above 
the reality. 

Now, need I say, that all this is directly contrary 
to the spirituality and self-denial of the Gospel ? Need 



12 

I say, that a person who walks in such a course, even 
though he he a stranger to gross vices, cannot be a 
disciple of Jesus Christ ? No, brethren, as long as 
the Bible is our guide, it is impossible to decide 
otherwise. And I have sometimes thought that there 
is no class of persons more difficult to be approached 
and impressed by a Minister of Christ, than your gen- 
teel, decent worshippers of luxury and fashion. We 
cannot denounce them as immoral, in the popular 
sense of the term ; and they are apt to imagine that 
they are saints because they are not profligates. As 
long as this impression remains, there is no hope of 
their being profited by any thing we can say. With 
what an anxious and trembling heart, then, must a 
Minister of the Gospel go to proclaim his message in 
a place where such society abounds ! He needs not 
only all his fortitude as a man, but also all his confi- 
dence as a believer, and all the gracious aid promised 
by the Master whom he serves, to support and animate 
him in the undertaking. He, of course, lakes no 
pleasure in delivering an unwelcome or offensive mes- 
sage, as such ; but would much rather, if it were 
possible, please all his hearers. How painful the task, 
then, to go to the tribes of vanity and frivolity, how- 
ever elevated in their own estimation, and address 
them plainly and faithfully, as Paul would have done, 
on the sinfulness and danger of their course ! How 
hard to natural feeling, to go to those who, it may 



13 

be, a few days or hours before, caressed him, and 
perhaps loaded him with civilities at the hospitable 
table, and tell them, that except a man be born again, 
he cannot see the kingdom of God ; that he that be- 
lieveth not on the Son of God, shall not see life, but that 
the wrath of God abideth on him ; that we must not 
be conformed to this world ; but must deny ungodli- 
ness and ivorldly lusts, and live soberly, righteously, 
and godlily in this present evil world ! — 0, what a 
temptation is here to soften or keep back the truth ! 
What a temptation to avoid dwelling on those great 
practical, Gospel doctrines, which he knows are so 
grating and offensive to many of his hearers ! 

But, alas ! even this temptation, fearful as it is, 
is not the whole of his danger. It will be well if, 
besides softening or keeping back the truth, he be 
not gradually and insensibly drawn to adopt in his 
own person and family, those very worldly habits, 
against which he was bound to have lifted up both 
his voice and his example. It will be well, if, in- 
stead of being a faithful reprover of prevailing vani- 
ties and follies, he be not, in effect, their daily patron. 
There is, I am persuaded, no harder trial of a Minis- 
ter's graces, than to mingle continually with the mem- 
bers of a wealthy, polished, and fashionable congre- 
gation, and at the same time to keep himself unspotted 
from the world. Truly it requires the firmness, as 
well as the prudence of an Apostle, to be surrounded 



I 



14 

with the spirit of conformity to the world, and yet, 
without giving just offence, to have no fellowship 
with it : to be continually solicited by worldly blandish- 
ments ; and yet to maintain that holy elevation of 
sentiment and conduct which becomes an " Over- 
seer of tlw flock" a w steward of the mysteries of 
God." 

2. The refinements op philosophy, falsely so 
called, which are apt to reign, in a peculiar degree, 
in great and polished cities, are unfriendly to the 
preaching, and the success of the Gospel. 

A variety of circumstances concur in drawing to 
large cities, a greater number, not only of the truly 
learned, but also of vain pretenders to knowledge, 
than are commonly found in other situations. In 
great cities, men of both these descriptions, are most 
apt to find appropriate society, and appropriate em- 
ployment. There they find excitement, and gratifi- 
cation, and scenes in which to display their talents, 
or their vanity. Of course, places of this kind are 
generally found to be the favourite theatres of their 
association and enterprise. 

But need I remark, that persons of this character 
are peculiarly apt to be found arrayed against the 
simplicity and purity of the Gospel ? Not that I sup- 
pose genuine philosophy to be unfriendly to the religion 
of Jesus Christ. The real and profound science of 
such men as Bacon, and Boyle, and Neivton, and 



15 

Locke, and many more, demonstrated that knowledge, 
in itself, is a handmaid to religion ; a friend to faith. 
But the pride of knowledge, and the speculations of 
false science, are diametrically opposed to the hu- 
mility and simplicity of the Gospel. They are per- 
petually disposed to wage, a concealed, perhaps, but 
real, and malignant warfare, against the Spirit, and 
all the distinguishing and most precious doctrines of 
Christianity. For example, the doctrine of the Divine 
existence in a Trinity of Persons, that fundamental 
doctrine in the system of Redemption : — The doc- 
trine of the fall and ruin of our race in Adam, our 
federal head and representative ; without which I will 
venture to say, both the language and the offers of 
the plan of mercy are unintelligible : — The doctrine 
of atonement, by the vicarious sufferings, and of justi- 
fication, by the imputed righteousness of the Surety, 
which may be said to be the life and glory of the 
Gospel : — And, finally, the doctrine of Regeneration, 
and of progressive sanctification, by the power of the 
Holy Spirit, without ivhich no man shall see the Lwd 
— are all doctrines which the spirit of false and vain 
philosophy regards with aversion, if not with con- 
tempt. When, therefore, a Minister of the Gospel 
goes to a place where large numbers of those who 
possess this spirit are collected and embodied, must 
he not, of necessity, meet with peculiar obstacles, and 
with peculiar temptations ? If, indeed, he will con- 



16 

sent to betray his Master with a kiss, and to preach 
another Gospel, all will be quiet ; this kind of oppo- 
sition will totally cease. But he dare not do it. If 
he would save himself and them that hear him, he 
must not think, for one moment, of such complicated 
treachery. 

This consideration appears to have deeply impress- 
ed the mind of Paul, in the prospect of going to 
Rome. He was perfectly aware that the proud phi- 
losophers of that great Capital would regard with 
disdain a man, who came to them preaching salva- 
tion in the name of a despised Jew, who had been 
crucified at Jerusalem as a malefactor ; and preach- 
ing a salvation, too, which in all its features was 
adapted to abase human pride. He was sensible 
that he must go, calculating and contented, to be 
reckoned a fool and a madman, for coming with 
such a message to men who accounted themselves 
more wise than the rest of mankind. So he had 
found it in the polished and learned Athens ; so he 
had found it in the proud, luxurious Corinth ; and 
so he expected to find it, wherever he went among 
the great ones of the world. And, let me add, bre- 
thren, so must every Ambassador of Christ expect 
to find it in every age and clime, if he resolve to 
preach the Gospel of the grace of God, in all its 
plainness and primitive simplicity. He must calcu- 
late on being regarded by the vain, the conceited, 



17 

the proud, the self-righteous, wherever he finds them, 
as a weak, prejudiced, sour, puritanical enthusiast : 
and it will be well if he be not loaded with still more 
opprobrious names. But he must be willing to en- 
counter all this, and more, for the sake of his Master. 
He must be ready to say, with the same Apostle, 
who penned the words of our text — We are counted 
fools for Christ's sake : We are made as the filth 
of the world, and as the off scouring of all things. 
But none of these things move me, neither count I 
my life dear unto myself so that I might finish my 
course with joy, and the ministry which I have re- 
ceived of the Lord Jesus. 

3. Another difficulty and temptation in the way 
of a city pastor, closely allied to the last which was 
mentioned, is — That, in polished and fashionable so- 
ciety, there is always a peculiar demand for smooth 

and SUPERFICIAL PREACHING. 

It is not only the spirit of proud philosophy that is 
hostile to the Gospel. The spirit of luxury, and 
worldly refinement is equally so ; and is often a 
more dangerous foe for being more plausible and 
insidious. The votaries of pleasure and ambition de- 
light in that kind of preaching which will not disturb 
them in their unhallowed course. They say, " Pro- 
phecy to us smooth things" The more a sermon is 
decorated with the charms of a splendid rhetorick ; 
the more it contains of the enticing words of man's 

3 



18 

wisdom, and the less of plain, and pungent Gospel 
truth, the better adapted it is to their taste. In short, 
they will not fail to be pleased with a preacher, who 
gratifies their fancy with brilliant imagery and lan- 
guage, and their ears with fascinating tones, and says 
little or nothing to make them displeased with them- 
selves. 

Search Christendom over, my friends, and you will 
find this to be one of the grand temptations in 
preaching the Gospel to the luxurious and fashionable, 
especially in large cities, xlnd, alas ! how many 
ministers who set out with the purpose and promise 
of being faithful, have fallen into the snare ! They 
have begun, perhaps, with that most vain and delusive 
of all calculations, (for such I verily believe it to be) 
that the doctrines of the Gospel are never so likely to 
find their way to the hearts of the gay and the 
worldly, as when they are covered and disguised with 
artificial ornament. Hence they have insensibly con- 
tracted the habit of preaching, — the truth, perhaps, — 
but truth so gilded over, — so loaded with ornament, — so 
studiously divested of every thing adapted to give it 
edge and effect, as to be little if any better than keep- 
ing it back. This kind of preaching is greatly ad- 
mired by the people of the world ; but it leaves the 
pious to starve and mourn. It excites no alarm. It 
produces no complaint, on the part of the unbelieving 
and impenitent. It allows every hearer, who is so 



19 

disposed, to slumber in security ; and is adapted, ul- 
timately, to make those who statedly attend upon it, 
Christian in name, but heathen in reality. 

Such have been the guilty course, and the fatal in- 
fluence, of many a polished, courtly preacher, from 
the age of Paid of Samosata* to the present hour. 
If you doubt the fact, search with impartiality the 
records of Jerusalem and JLntioch, of Carthage and 
Alexandria, of Constantinople and of Rome ; and 
you will doubt no longer. 

But, from a courtly, flattering mode of preaching, 
the transition is easy and natural to erroneous opini- 
ons. And, accordingly, great cities have commonly 



* Paul of Samosata, was so called from the place of his birth. 
He was the Bishop of Antioch, about A. D. 260. Queen Zenobia, 
who then reigned in Syria, had a great esteem for him, on ac- 
count of his eloquence, though she preferred the Jewish religion 
to all others. Paul, being a great courtier, in order to gain 
the favour of the queen, and to win her over to the Christian 
faith, endeavoured to accommodate his system of doctrine, and his 
mode of preaching to her taste. He denied the doctrine of the 
Trinity, as held by the orthodox, and also the proper Divinity 
of Christ ; and took great pains to add new splendour to the 
publick worsnip of his church. He at first attempted to con- 
ceal, or explain away his opinions, and gave much trouble to 
the clergy of his time and neighbourhood; but was, at length, 
detected, and deposed from the ministry. See the accounts 
given of this man and his errors, by Eusebius, Athanasius* 
Mcefihorus, Theodoret, Chrysostom, &c. 



20 

been, in all ages, the hot-beds of error. Because 
there have been displayed most frequently the pride 
of intellect, and those splendid temptations which are 
apt to beguile from the simplicity that is in Christ. 
In the great cities of the Roman Empire began that 
clerical ambition, which invaded the primitive parity 
of Gospel Ministers, and which finally issued in the 
Papal usurpation. In great cities, likewise, or, at 
least, in states of society similar to what is commonly 
found in such places, has generally commenced that 
fatal decline from orthodoxy, which began, perhaps, 
with calling in question some of what are styled the 
more rigid peculiarities of received creeds, and ended 
in embracing the dreadful, soul-destroying errors of 
Jlrius or Socinus* We might easily illustrate and 
confirm this position, by examples drawn from our 



* The above language, concerning- the destructive nature of 
the Avian and Socinian heresies, has not been adopted lightly ; 
but is the result of serious deliberation, and deep conviction. 
And in conformity with this view of the subject, the Author can- 
not forbear to notice and record a declaration made to himself, 
by the late Dr. Priestley, two or three years before the decease 
of that distinguished Unitarian. The conversation was a free 
and amicable one, on some of the fundamental doctrines of reli- 
gion. In reply to a direct avowal on the part of the Author that 
he was a Trinitarian and a Calvinist, Dr. Priestley said — " I do 
" not wonder that you Calvinists entertain and express a strongly 
" unfavourable opinion of us Unitarians. The truth is, there 



2\ 

own country, had we time to trace the history of 
several sects among us, and especially of American 
Unitarianism. But I forbear to pursue the illustration 
farther : and shall only take the liberty to ask, as I 
pass along — How it is to be accounted for, that the 
preaching of those who deny the Divinity and Atone- 
ment of the Saviour, and who reject the doctrines of 
Human Depravity, of Regeneration, and of Justification 
by the righteousness of Christ — How, I ask, is it to be 
accounted for, that such preachers, all over the world, are 
most acceptable to the gay, the fashionable, the world- 
ly-minded, and even the licentious ? That so many 
embrace and eulogize their system, without being, in 
the smallest perceptible degree, sanctified by it ? That 
thousands are in love with it, and praise it ; but that 
we look in vain for the monuments of its reforming 



u neither can, nor ought to be, any compromise between us. If 
" you are right, we are not christians at all ; and if nve are 
" right, you are gross idolaters." These were, as nearly as 
can be recollected, the words, and, most accurately, the substance 
of his remark. And nothing, certainly, can be more just. Be- 
tween those who believe in the Divinity and Atonement of the 
Son of God, and those who entirely reject both, " there is a great 
gulfih jixed" which precludes all ecclesiastical intercourse. 
The former may greatly respect and love the latter, on account 
of other qualities and attainments ; but certainly cannot regard 
them as christians, in any correct sense of the word ; or as any- 
more in the way of salvation, than Mohammedans or Jenvs. 



22 

and puri tying power ? I will not pretend to answer 
these questions ; but leave them to the consciences 
of those who believe, that the genuine doctrines of 
the Gospel always have had, and always will have, 
a tendency to promote holiness of heart and of life ; 
and that we must all speedily appear before the judg- 
ment seat of Christ. 

The preacher then, who goes to a polite and luxuri- 
ous capital, ought to be most vigilantly on his guard 
against the tendency and the influence of which I 
have spoken. He ought to be constantly aware of 
the difficulty and of the temptation before him : and 
while he endeavours to gratify, as far as is lawful, the 
taste for elegance and refinement in his publick ser- 
vices ; he ought, at the same time, so to preach as to 
be able, with truth, to say — I preach Christ crucified, 
not ivith the enticing words of maris ivisdom, but in 
demonstration of the Spirit, and of power. 

4. A fourth obstacle to the success of Gospel mi- 
nisters in populous cities, is the tendency of parti- 
cular circumstances, in such places, to harden the 

HEART. 

Of these circumstances I have only time, at pre- 
sent, to mention two — viz. familiarity with death, 
and the frequency and publicity of gross vices. 

Few things have a greater tendency to impress and 
soften the heart, than Death, and the various attend- 
ants on the close of our earthly pilgrimage. The 



23 

coffin, the shroud, the funeral procession, and the 
open grave, all tend to inspire deep reflection and 
seriousness, in every man who has not become ob- 
durate as a brute. Nay, the most abandoned prolix 
gate, and even the atheist, are compelled to be 
thoughtful while they stand over the house appointed 
for all living. Such, in fact, is the impression made, 
on the minds of most persons, by a death and a fu- 
neral, in those places in which occurrences of this 
kind are comparatively rare. But probably every 
one who has had an opportunity of making the ob- 
servation, has remarked, that in large cities, where 
deaths and funerals, and sometimes large numbers 
of them, occur every day, they, in a great measure, 
cease to make the impression which is proper and 
desirable. The scene is familiar. The mind be- 
comes, in this respect, hardened. And that whole 
train of motives which the Gospel preacher is wont 
to draw from the consideration of death and eternity, 
and which ought to be among the most awfully power- 
ful, make, for the most part, but little impression. 

The same general remarks may be applied to gross 
vices. In the retirement of the country, where such 
vices seldom occur, and when they do occur, are in 
a great measure concealed from publick view, they 
are regarded with a kind of instinctive horror. But, 
in great cities, where they occur every day, and some- 
times every hour, and frequently court the publick 



^4 

eye, they are, insensibly, regarded with less and less 
horror. And it will be well if the minds of many, 
who once thought themselves beyond the reach of 
such an effect, are not gradually poisoned by the con- 
tagious example. It will be well if practices once 
considered as unquestionably and highly criminal, be 
not, by and by, so familiar to the mind, as to appear 
scarcely criminal at all, and as hardly a proper object 
of ecclesiastical discipline. 

Now, it cannot be questioned, that whatever har- 
dens the heart — whatever renders death and eternity 
less impressive, and sinful practice, of whatever kind, 
less abhorrent to the soul, forms a real obstacle to 
the success of the Ambassador of Christ. It can 
scarcely, I think, be doubted, that this was one of 
the difficulties which the Apostle contemplated in the 
prospect of preaching the Gospel at Rome. There, 
he knew, that many of those practices which he must 
denounce as unchristian, were not only loved, but 
sanctioned by publick opinion, and by general habit. 
But in spite of this, and of every other obstacle, he 
declared himself ready to go forward ; ready to put 
his reputation, and even his life in jeopardy, to plead 
the cause of his Master against all opposition. 

5. The only other peculiar difficulty which I shall 
mention, as attendant on the labours of a Minister 
of the Gospel in a great city, is that love of va- 
riety, and that fondness for religious dissipation, 



25 

ii' I may so speak, which are apt to prevail in po- 
pulous places. 

When a Minister is settled in a retired situation, or 
in a town where there is but a single church, and but 
seldom an opportunity of comparing the ministrations 
of others with his, he has, comparatively, an easy 
task. He is, in a great measure free from that pe- 
culiar pressure, which a very different state of things 
imposes on the city pastor. In great cities there is 
created a sort of morbid appetite for variety, and for 
an excessive quantity, as well as delicacy, of publick 
preaching. There is such an easy access to every 
sort of talent and manner, that it cannot fail of being 
extremely difficult for any one man to keep together, 
and to satisfy, a large congregation. If he hope to 
do it, he must not only preach the pure Gospel, with 
diligence and with power ; but he must also labour, 
as far as is lawful, to give his people that variety 
and richness of matter, which may be adapted to 
the various tastes of those who attend on his minis- 
try. He must labour, as our Lord expresses it, like 
a good householder, to bring forth out of his treasure 
things new and old. He must, as the Apostle, in 
writing to Timothy, exhorts — He must give attention 
to reading, as ivell as to exhortation : he must me- 
ditate upon these things, and give himself wholly to 
them, that his profiting may appear unto all. 

But that love of variety, which is peculiarly strong 

4 



26 

in the inhabitants of great cities, and which a city 
pastor must make peculiar exertions to consult, and, 
as far as is proper, to satisfy, is not the whole of his 
difficulty. There is also a tendency in large towns, 
where publick exercises of religion abound, and where 
some churches, of one denomination or another, are 
almost always open ; there is a tendency among many 
professors of religion, otherwise exemplary, by far 
too much to neglect the duties of the closet, and of 
the family, and to be almost perpetually engaged in 
attending on publick services. I am a warm friend, 
not only to a punctual attendance on the stated ser- 
vice of the house of God on the sabbath ; but also 
to an attendance on prayer-meetings, and other si- 
milar exercises, as Providence may afford an oppor- 
tunity, in the course of the week. The person who 
has it in his power to attend such meetings, but has 
no taste for it, and seldom or never appears at them, 
gives too much reason to fear that if he have real 
religion at all, it is at a very low ebb in his soul. 
Nay, I have no doubt that, where the principle of 
piety is in a lively and growing state, such meetings 
will be regarded as a feast, and there will be a desire 
to enjoy them as often as is consistent with the other 
duties of the Christian life. But this desire may be, 
and often has been, indulged to excess ; especially by 
parents and heads of families. Many hasten from 
church to church, and from one social meeting to 



21 

another, until every hour on the sabbath, and every 
evening in the week, are employed in publick ser- 
vices. In fact, they seem to think that they serve 
God acceptably just in proportion to the number of 
publick exercises on which they can attend. This 
religious dissipation — for it really appears to me to 
deserve no better name — is productive of multiplied 
evils. It interferes, almost entirely, with that calm 
self-examination, and self-converse, which are so es- 
sential to a life of growing piety. It abridges, or 
prevents, in a most fatal degree, that faithful instruc- 
tion of children and servants, which is indispensable 
to training up a family in the nurture and admonition 
of the Lord. And it tends to surcharge the mind 
with an amount of spiritual provision, which is never 
properly digested, or likely to be advantageously ap- 
plied, The consequence is, that the young and rising 
generation, in such families, are never prepared by 
adequate training at home to hear the Gospel with 
profit. While those who are more advanced in life, 
taking little or no time for meditation and reading 
in private, do not grow as they ought in Scriptural 
knowledge, and remain but babes, while they ought 
to be strong men in Christ. 

Hence arises what is alleged by many to be a 
fact, and what, I suspect, is really so 5 that among 
the mass of the professors of religion in great cities, 
there is, commonly, less accurate and digested know- 



28 

ledge of Christian doctrine, than among an equal 
number of professors in the country. Not that there 
is less general intelligence, or less access to books, 
in the former than in the latter : but, on the con- 
trary, more, usually, of both. But because there is 
more mixed society ; more of those distracting in- 
terruptions which multifarious society cannot fail to 
produce ; and, of course, less retirement, less religi- 
ous reading, and less leisurely digestion of what is 
read and heard. 

Now, it is perfectly obvious that all this is un- 
friendly both to the comfort and the success of a 
Christian pastor. Whatever has a tendency to in- 
terrupt or to abridge the exercises of retirement and 
devotion ; whatever has a tendency to prevent pro- 
fessors of religion from enjoying much deep, undis- 
turbed converse with themselves, their Bible, and 
their God ; and whatever tends to interfere with the 
patient, laborious pursuit of family instruction, and 
family discipline, will always be found to have an 
equal tendency to increase the toil, and at the same 
time to diminish the fruit of a Minister's work : 
will render the closet a less edifying preparative for 
the sanctuary, and the parental mansion a less whole- 
some nursery for the church of God. 

Such are some of the peculiar difficulties and 
temptations, which beset the Ambassador of Christ 
in a great city ; and which either hinder his sue- 



29 

cess, or increase his labour, or tempt him to employ 
unhallowed means for avoiding the trouble which they 
induce. 

It cannot be necessary to add, that, these things 
being so, the situation of a city-minister is, by no 
means to be coveted or envied. If he have a more 
comfortable temporal support than usually falls to 
the lot of his country brethren (though this is by no 
means always the case, and perhaps more seldom 
than is imagined, when every thing is taken into the 
account) ; and if he enjoy the advantage of more 
intelligent society, and of greater literary privileges ; 
he has, at the same time, if he be faithful, more 
severe labour ; more perplexing care ; more dis- 
tracting interruptions from unprofitable company : 
less command of his time, for either study or de- 
votion ; and less ministerial comfort. He is like a 
soldier, who is not only always on duty ; but always in 
the front of the battle ; often on the forlorn hope ; and 
if he be sometimes cheered with the voice of appro- 
bation, and the shout of victory, he is, perhaps, still 
more frequently assailed by the murmurs of com- 
plaint, and discouraged by the fruitlessness of his 
toils. 

I have dwelt so long on this branch of the sub- 
ject, that less time than I could wish is left for con- 
sidering the second proposition, which is 
II. That, as peculiar difficulties and temptations 



so 

attend the preaching of the Gospel in great cities ; 

SO it is Of PECULIAR IMPORTANCE THAT THE GOSPEL 
BE PLAINLY AND FAITHFULLY PREACHED IN SUCH 
PLACES. 

It is of unspeakable importance that the Gospel be 
plainly and faithfully preached every where. For it is 
the poiver of God unto salvation, to every one that be- 
lieveth. If the salvation of the soul be of infinite 
moment ; if the Gospel of the grace of God be the 
only message of life and peace to fallen man ; and if 
he that believeth this Gospel hath life, but he that 
believeth it not, shall not see life, but hath the wrath 
of God abiding on him ; — then no tongue of men 
or of angels can tell the importance of preaching 
the Gospel, in its simplicity and purity, to every 
creature. 

But the thought which I wish to illustrate and 
enforce is, that there are some considerations which 
render it peculiarly important that the Gospel be 
plainly and faithfully preached in great cities. 
Among many which might be suggested, I will only 
request your attention to the following. 

If there be any justness in the remark offered in a 
former part of the discourse, that there is a certain 
intensity of character usually observable among the 
inhabitants of great cities ; that, especially, their 
luxury and dissipation, their follies and vices are, in 
common, more strongly marked, than in the more 



31 

spare population of the country ; then it follows that 
there is, humanly speaking, more need of the Gospel 
in the former than in the latter : a more imperious 
call for exhibiting, in all its solemnity and power, that 
most potent of all means for opposing and subduing 
the depravity of man. It is a maxim, among wise 
physicians, that the most strongly marked diseases, 
call for the most bold and vigourous treatment. To 
counteract a poison of peculiar virulence, remedies 
of the most active character must be employed. So 
it is in the moral and spiritual world. Where diffi- 
culties more than commonly powerful and obstinate 
exist, remedies of corresponding potency ought to be 
sought and diligently applied. Since, then, the Gos- 
pel of Christ exhibits the only adequate remedy for 
human depravity and misery, it ought to be preached 
with peculiar plainness, fidelity and perseverance, 
wherever the diseases which it is intended to heal 
reign with more than ordinary malignity. 

Again ; it is of peculiar importance that the Gos- 
pel be faithfully and powerfully preached in great 
cities, because there it is commonly addressed to 
greater numbers at once than in more retired 
places. There the preacher has a more favourable 
opportunity of doing good upon a large scale : and, 
of course, the result of a given amount of labour, 
other things being equal, will be likely to be more 
extensively useful. When Peter preached at Jem- 



32 

salem, and Paul at Jlntioch and Corinth, they seem 
to have accomplished more by single sermons, than 
by many, in the smaller settlements which they 
visited. 

A large city, likewise, forms, as it were, the heart, 
the most vital portion of the State or Country to 
which it belongs. It gives fashion, and almost law, 
to the surrounding districts. A favourable impression 
made here, will be extended in every direction. A 
happy impulse given here, will vibrate, and be be- 
neficially felt to the remotest bounds of the social 
body. How important, then, that in the Metropolis 
of a State or Nation, the truth be known and ho- 
noured, and orthodox churches established and edi- 
fied ! How peculiarly desirable, that in such a great 
centre of action and of influence, there be able, 
faithful men, well qualified to be guides of the faith 
and practice of those around them ! 

Further ; in a great city, there is special need of 
instructive, faithful preaching, because there, as you 
have heard, there is apt to be less reading, less re- 
tired devotion, less patient use of the private means 
of growing in scriptural knowledge, than are com- 
monly found in other places, where the means of 
grace are statedly enjoyed. It often happens, in large 
cities, that the instructions given from the pulpit, 
form the greater part of what many professors of 
religion and others, ever receive. Of what unspeak- 



S3 

able importance is it, then, that the preaching, in 
such circumstances, be plain, clear, sound, able, faith- 
ful, and edifying ! How important that preachers be 
scribes, well instructed in the kingdom of God ; 
qualified rightly to divide the word of truth, and 
give to every one his portion in due season ! 

In a large city, moreover, the faithful, popular 
preacher will, almost every sabbath, address a num- 
ber of strangers, who flock to the Metropolis, on 
business or pleasure, from every part of the sur- 
rounding country ; and who, if they be benefited 
themselves by his labours, will carry with them 
a portion of the sacred treasure, wherever they so- 
journ, or wherever they abide. When Peter preached 
in Jerusalem, on the day of Pentecost, he was the 
instrument of saving benefit to many who resided in 
almost every part of the Roman Empire. Some of 
the inhabitants of Egypt and of the Lesser Asia, of 
Crete and Arabia, of Rome and of Parthia, were 
found together, drinking in the Word of life from 
his lips ; and each, afterwards, going to his own 
home, we may suppose, became a means of saving 
knowledge to many around him. how animating, 
and, at the same time, how solemn, is this thought 
to one who, from sabbath to sabbath, proclaims the 
message of salvation in a populous city ! Every time 
he enters the pulpit, he will, perhaps, preach to some 
who never heard him before, and will never hear 

5 



34 

him again ; and who may carry away an impression 
eternally beneficial or injurious, according to its cha- 
racter, not only to themselves, but also to many others 
over whom they may exert an influence ! 

Finally ; in a large city, as we have seen, there is 
generally collected a much greater amount of intellec- 
tual power, of literary acquirement, and of pecuniary 
means, than are to be found in other places. Of 
course, if a right direction be given to publick sen- 
timent by the faithful preaching of the Gospel (and 
we cannot hope that it shall be given by any other 
means) we may expect to see a much greater amount 
of talent, of learning, of wealth, and of exertion de- 
voted to the cause of the Redeemer, to the promotion 
of human happiness, than could otherwise be reason- 
ably expected. The servant of Jesus Christ, then, 
who takes the oversight in the Lord of a large and 
wealthy city congregation, may consider himself as 
called to preside over the movements of an Engine 
of mighty power, which, under wise guidance, may 
accomplish more than can easily be estimated ; — not 
for his own personal aggrandisement ; — not to gratify 
the littleness of sectarian bigotry ; — but to support 
and extend those great plans for building up the 
church of God, at home and abroad, which now do 
honour to those who engage in them, and which will 
promote the happiness of unnumbered millions in 
time and eternity. 



35 

It is plain, then, that the labours of a Gospel Mi- 
nister, in a great capital, are more important than 
those of most others in the sacred office : — That 
greater benefits, or greater mischiefs are likely to flow 
from them, according to their character : — And that, 
as he is called to struggle with many peculiar and 
most painful difficulties ; so he has, also, peculiar in- 
ducements to be faithful, and may expect peculiar 
rewards for his fidelity. 

This subject appears to me to be replete with in- 
struction both to our young Brother, who is this day 
to be invested with the sacred office ; and also to that 
portion of the inhabitants of this great city, who are 
statedly to attend on his ministrations. 

First ; let me apply the remarks which have been 
made to the youthful Candidate, whose investment 
with the office of an Ambassador of Christ, and whose 
pastoral charge over this people, are this day to begin. 
My beloved Brother ! the great Head of the Church 
has cast your lot in a most important and interesting 
station. He has been pleased to place you on one 
of the most conspicuous hills of Zion. You have 
heard of the difficulties and temptations which will 
attend you. Contemplate them without self-flattery, 
but, at the same time, without dismay. They are 
real. They are formidable. Nay, the half has not 
been told you. Allow one who himself resided more 



36 

than twenty years in a large city, to speak with some 
degree of confidence on this subject. Rely upon it, 
the splendour of wealth, the fascinations of refined 
and elegant society, the charms of luxury, the caresses 
of respect and kindness, and the insinuating voice of 
popular applause are more truly dangerous to a Mi- 
nister of Christ, than the terrors of persecution. More 
dangerous to his ministerial fidelity, — more dangerous 
to his ultimate peace. Turn not away, I beseech 
you, from a distinct view of this danger ; but, in the 
name and in the strength of your Master, regard it 
with a steady eye, and as a good soldier of Jesus 
Christ, gird on your armour. 

Preach the simple and pure Gospel. Be not ashamed 
of it ; though the children of gaiety and dissipation 
call you rigid, and even fanatical ; and though the 
self-righteous and philosophical consider the cross as 
folly ; — be not ashamed of it. Let your resolution 
be that of Paul — For I determined to know nothing 
among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. 
Whether men will hear, or whether they will forbear, 
hold forth tJw icord of life. Hold it forth, without 
disguise or concealment ; in all its majesty and pu- 
rity ; in all its humbling and elevating character. 
And be careful not only to preach the gospel ; 
but also to live the gospel. Let all your deport- 
ment be a living, striking comment on the holy, 
humbling, and self-denying doctrine which you will 



37 

preach. Remember, that, not only every sermon 
you deliver, but every word you utter, and every 
part of your example, on this hill of Zion, will be 
of peculiar importance ; nay, perhaps, will be for 
the rise or fall of many in Israel Let them all, then, 
(more I cannot say, and more I need not sBy) let them 
all be such as becometh the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

In pursuing this course, you will gain with all, 
and lose with none. It is a common opinion, that 
when a Minister of Christ is in the company of the 
gay and the worldly, he conciliates their respect by 
as much conformity to their practices as decorum 
will permit. There never was a greater mistake. 
I grant, that, by pursuing this course, he may con- 
ciliate their prevailing taste and their present wish- 
es ; BUT NOT THEIR JUDGMENT, Or their RESPECT. 

They never fail to think the less of him, at the time, 
for all his concessions to their habits of life ; and 
seldom fail to speak of it to his disadvantage when 
he has withdrawn. No ; the judgment and the con- 
science of every worldly man, nay, of the most profli- 
gate man in this city, are strongly in favour of a pure, 
holy, retiring, self-denied character on the part of 
Ministers of the Gospel. When such a character is 
exhibited, it invariably extorts even from the most 
licentious, the homage of respect and admiration : 
and they are among the first to remark with severity 
on every departure from it. Be assured, then, that 



38 t 

a Minister of the Gospel, by every act of conformity 
to the maxims and manners of the world, loses in 
the estimation of the worst of men, and grieves to 
the heart the generation of the righteous. 

When I think of your ministry in this place, my 
dear young Brother, I am ready fondly to hope that 
we may apply to you the same exhortation, and the 
same encouragement, which were given by the Saviour 
himself to the Apostle Paul, when he was about to 
preach in the city of Corinth. Be not afraid, said 
the ascended Redeemer ; Be not afraid, but speak, 
and hold not thy peace ; for I am with thee, and no 
man shall set on thee to hurt thee ; for I have much 
people in this city. Acts xviii. 9, 10. So, in my 
Master's name, I would say to you. Be not afraid ; 
but speak, and hold not thy peace ; for the Lord is 
with thee. Be faithful ; for ilie Lord, I trust, has 
much people in this city. Be faithful unto death, 
and thou shalt receive a crown of life. Remember 
that the true honour of a Gospel Minister consists, 
not in receiving greetings in the markets, or in being 
invited to llw uppermost rooms at feasts, or in being 
called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. No ; his honour con- 
sists in doing good ; his laurels are conversions ; 
the highest eulogium that can be bestowed upon him 
is that which is recorded of a Minister of old — He 
was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of 
faith, and much people ivas added to the Lord. 



39 

Remember, also, the shortness and uncertainty of 
life ; and endeavour every sabbath to preach, and 
every day to live, as if it might be your last. what 
an affecting comment on this counsel is the early 
removal of that precious young Minister of Christ, 
who, not long since, proclaimed his Master's message 
within these walls, but has recently been translated to 
another, and, we trust, a better world ! Yes, the pious, 
the eloquent, the noble-minded, the beloved Larned,* 
your brother, and companion in study, is no more ! 
Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight ! — 
Make it your daily and hourly care, my dear young 



* The Rev. Sylvester Larked, late Pastor of the Presby- 
terian church in the city of New-Orleans, who, a few weeks 
before the delivery of this discourse, in the 24th year of his 
age, and in the midst of high promises of usefulness, fell a 
victim to a malignant fever, which was epidemick in the place 
of his residence. He and Mr. JYevins were fellow-students at 
the Theological Seminary, of which the Author of this Sermon 
is one of the Professors, and were much attached to each other. 
Mr. Lamed* not long before his death, had been invited by the 
First Presbyterian church in Baltimore to be their Pastor ; but 
with a disinterestedness, as striking as it is rare, he resolved not 
to forsake a congregation which he had been instrumental in 
forming, and which he considered as still urgently needing his 
labours Few young Ministers of the present clay have occupied 
a higher place in the publick regard, or died more unftignedly 
and generally lamented. 



40 

Brother, to be ready to follow him ; ready to obey 
the summons to yourself, whenever it may arrive. 
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, may you 
receive a crown of glory that shall not fade away ! 

In the second place, let me apply the subject be- 
fore US to THE MEMBERS OF THIS CONGREGATION. 

You are not to imagine my friends, that the dis- 
cussion in which we have been engaged, is applicable 
only to him who is about to become your Pastor. It 
has a direct, and very solemn application also, to the 
flock of Christ, of which he is to be an overseer. 
You reside in a great, rich, polished, and luxurious 
city ; a city which appears destined to become one 
of the greatest in this Western World. While this 
circumstance will be, as you have heard, a source of 
difficulty and of temptation to your Pastor, it will be 
a source of no less temptation to yourselves. O my 
friends ! such a situation is a trying, a peculiarly try- 
ing one to professing Christians. They walk every 
hour in the midst of contagion and of danger. Watch 
and pray without ceasing, I beseech you, against the 
unhallowed influence of the worldly splendours and 
attractions which surround you. Cherish in your 
persons, and in your families, those Christian virtues 
of moderation, simplicity, self-denial, and purity, which 
are so essential to social and ecclesiastical happiness. 
Guard against a criminal conformity to the world, 
that reproach and bane of the church of Christ. 



41 

Above all, invite the holy, sanctifying Spirit of God 
into your city, and into your church ; and then 
from this great centre of life and activity, healthful 
influence will be pouring forth in every direction, and 
diffusing blessings far and wide. 

You have invited this young Brother, greatly be- 
loved and respected by his Teachers, to be your 
Pastor. Despise not his youth. Receive him as an 
Embassador of Jesus Christ ; for he comes in His 
name, and bears His message. Remember the diffi- 
culties and temptations which will await him in this 
wealthy capital, and add not to their number by your 
manner of treating him. Instead of weakening his 
hands, or tempting him, by any conduct on your part, 
to be ashamed of the Gospel, or to keep back, or 
disguise it, let your treatment of him and his minis- 
trations be always such as to excite and animate 
him to greater fidelity and holy zeal. Make a point 
of encouraging and supporting him in the exercise of 
enlightened christian discipline. Without some 
good measure of discipline, there may be a con- 
gregation ; but I will venture to say, there cannot 
be a church. Never account him your enemy, be- 
cause he tells you the truth. When he sets before 
you your guilt and depravity by nature ; when he 
reminds you of your sins and your danger ; when 
he describes to you the terrors of the judgment day, 
and the miseries of the damned in hell,— be not 

6 



42 

offended. He will take no pleasure in dwelling on 
these things for their own sake : but only that by 
exhibiting your danger, he may constrain you to flee 
from the wrath to come, and to lay hold oil the Hope 
set before you in the Gospel. And surely, my friends, 
if the danger of impenitent sinners be as great, as 
tremendously great, as the word of God declares it 
to be, that Minister who should fail to warn them, 
and to set before them their real situation, would 
deserve to be accounted their worst enemy, and to 
be abhorred for his want of fidelity. 

When I look round on this great city, I think of 
Borne, as it was when Paul went thither to preach 
the Gospel. I think of its prosperity and grandeur 
in that day ; and I ask myself — Where is it now ? 
Alas ! its glory is departed ! Had Rome been faithful 
to its privileges, it had retained its glory to this day. 
But it became corrupt and corrupting ; and the righ- 
teous Governor of the world brought upon it his 
destroying judgments. My dearly beloved brethren, 
read in the history of that city, at once what will 
be your happiness and safety, and where your danger 
lies. Your happiness and safety will consist in che- 
rishing the Gospel ; in opening your houses and your 
hearts, as well as your church, to its blessed influence. 
Your danger will lie, in rejecting that Gospel, or in 
turning away from its spirit and power, while you 
bear its name. Behold, I set before you, this day, 



43 

life and death, blessing and cursing : Therefore chuse 
life, that your souls may live. The Lord bless you 
and keep you ! The Lord make his face to shine 
upon you, and be gracious unto you ! The Lord 
lift upon you the light of his countenance, and give 
you peace ! Amen. 



END OF THE SERMON. 



BY THE REV. ELIAS HARRISON, 

OF ALEXANDRIA. 



THE CHARGE TO THE PASTOR. 

You are now, my brother, standing before this as- 
sembly, and in the presence of the great Searcher of 
all hearts, in circumstances the most interesting, the 
most solemn, and the most affecting. The great 
Head of the church, who watches over all its in- 
terests, and who is invisibly directing the destinies 
of the created universe, has this day, by an ordi- 
nance of his own appointment, selected you from 
the world, and invested you with the sacred office 
of the ministry of i^econciliation : — an office, at once 
the most important, the most honourable, and the 
most responsible that has ever been committed into 
the hands of men. 

From the transactions of this solemn hour, you 
have become a Minister of Jesus Christ : — a Steivard 
of the mysteries of God : — an Ambassador of the 
King ojZion : — and a Dispenser of the ivord of life, to 
that flock, over which God. in his electing providence, 
has made you an overseer. The relation into which 
you have now entered, and the character which from 
this period you are to sustain in life, are such as to 
awaken the liveliest interest ; ' and to excite in the 
bosoms of the friends of Zion, the most pleasing and 



i 



48 

animating expectations. As office-bearers in the 
church of our Divine Master, and as co-workers with 
him, in the building up of his gracious kingdom in 
the world, we. cannot help hailing this event, not only 
as propitious to the general interests of religion in 
this place ; but as an increasing evidence, that the 
superintending care of the great Shepherd of Israel, 
is still extended to every portion of his widely-scatter- 
ed flock. We hail it as a token for good to this 
people who have affectionately called you among them 
to be their pastor ; to watch over their spiritual and 
eternal interests ; to go in and out before them, and 
break unto them the bread of life : — as an evidence 
that Zion is still enlarging her borders, and stretching 
forth the curtain of her habitation : — and as a pledge, 
a renewed pledge, that God will never forsake that 
church which has been so dearly bought with the 
blood of his only-begotten, and well-beloved Son. 

But while we do this ; and while with the most 
affectionate cordiality we welcome you into the mi- 
nistry of reconciliation, as one well furnished, and 
well qualified to sustain the sacred office ; we must 
inform you at the same time, as much in affection 
for you, as in faithfulness to ourselves, that the stand 
which you now occupy, is the most solemn and re- 
sponsible under heaven : that it has connected with 
it, a weight of responsibility, which, without support, 
would be sufficient to make, even the shoulders of an 



49 

angel bend ; and which, when contemplated in its 
proper light by an inspired Apostle, induced him, 
almost in despair, to cry out, Who is sufficient for 
these things ? Are you, too, ready to sink under the 
prospect, and to break out in the same desponding 
exclamation. Let not your heart be troubled ; for 
He who has said, " Go and preach the Gospel,' 1 has 
also said, for your encouragement and support, " My 

grace is sufficient for you." From 

this moment you belong almost exclusively to the 
church. It has now claims upon you of such impor- 
tance, and of such a binding nature, as that they can 
never be cancelled in any other manner, than by the 
withering scythe of death. Jesus Christ has com- 
missioned, and sent you forth to preach the mysteries 
of his everlasting kingdom — to dispense the ordinan- 
ces of his house — to watch for the salvation of im- 
mortal souls — to nourish his children with the bread 
of life — and both by precept and example, to be a 
spiritual guide to that people, the charge of whom 
is now committed into your hands. From hence- 
forth, you are to know nothing among them, and to 
preach nothing among them, but Jesus Christ and 
him crucified. We charge you never to forget, that 
your letter of instructions, has been dictated by the 
inspiration of Omnipotence. " Son of man (says 
God) I have set thee as a watchman to the house of 
Israel. Therefore thou shalt hear the word from my 

7 



50 

mouth, and warn them from me. When I say of the 
wicked, wicked man, thou shalt surety die ! if thou 
dost not speak, to warn the wicked from his way, 
that wicked man shall die in his iniquity ; but (mark 
the appalling consequence) his blood will I require at 
thine hands." 

This then is to be your guide, in all your after 
ministrations. You are to search the Scriptures, and 
preach the whole truth, as it is in Jesus. You are 
not to keep back any thing, because it may not hap- 
pen to suit the taste or feelings of your auditory, even 
though it may be disagreeable to yourself. Shun not 
to declare the ivhole counsel of God. With a spirit 
of love, of meekness, and humility, contend earnestly 
for the faith once delivered to the saints. You are 
to alarm the careless and secure, by the thunders 
of Sinai, while you sooth the desponding penitent, 
by pointing him to the balm of Gilead, and the glo- 
rious Physician. And these things you are to do, 
without being influenced by smiling favour on the 
one hand, or the appalling frown upon the other. 
Acting under the broad commission of the eternal 
Son of God, and having his precious promise, that 
he will be with you always, — giving you strength 
equal to your day, and even making his own strength 
perfect in your weakness ; you have but little cause 
for fearful apprehension, even though your labours 
should be unsuccessful : — though your message should 



51 

be rejected, and your name cast out with infamy 
and reproach. Whether men will hear, or whether 
they will forbear, is to you a matter of comparatively 
small importance ; provided you warn them in the 
spirit of Christian meekness and affection. By deal- 
ing faithfully with them, that tremendous load of 
responsibility which now rests upon you, will be 
thrown off upon the heads of those by whom your 
message is rejected. Heaven and earth will witness 
for you, that if they perish, you will be free from the 
guilt of their blood. 

In order, however, that your ministry may be suc- 
cessful, and that you may be cheered with the pros- 
pect of many souls, who shall be as crowns of your 
rejoicing in the day of the Lord ; let your people 
see, that their interests, are in a measure, identified 
with your own — that you indeed love them — that the 
salvation of their immortal souls is an object which 
lies very near your heart — that to be the happy, and 
honoured instrument of saving them from ruin, and 
of exalting them to the bliss of heaven, you are will- 
ing to deny yourself of many outward comforts : — to 
be instant in season, and out of season, and to do 
every thing for them, which the nature of your rela- 
tion renders either necessary or commendable. Let 
the doctrines which you preach in the pulpit, be 
preached also in your holy and blameless manner of 
living. Be an example to the whole flock — in word, 



52 

in faith, in charity, in meekness, in patience, in con- 
versation, in purity, and in whatsoever things are 
lovely and of good report. It is the very essence of 
folly, for a Minister to expect the fruits of holiness in 
his people, or that they will listen with edification to 
his preaching, unless his own walk and conversation 
be such as becometh the Gospel of Christ. While, 
therefore, you exercise the wisdom of the serpent, let 
your life be an exhibition of the harmlessness of the 
dove. Follow up the instructions given publickly in 
the house of God, into the families of your flock. 
Instruct them in the domestic circle — converse with 
them with freedom and familiarity ; and on all suit- 
able occasions pray with them. Make this a matter 
of conscience, as frequently as the important duties of 
the study will leave you opportunity. For let me 
tell you, and I do it in some measure from success- 
ful experiment, that there is nothing, which so much 
endears a Pastor to his people, or a people to their 
Pastor, as frequently visiting, and conversing with 
them in their families. The union which is here 
formed, in this publick and official manner, is there 
cemented. The hearts of Minister and people, 
become knit together in the strongest ligaments 
of mutual affection : their interests seem to be 
one : they bear one another's burdens with cheer- 
fulness — sympathise in one another's afflictions, and 
thus become co-workers together in helping for- 



53 

ward the interests of their common Master's king- 
dom. 

With these remarks, we shall leave you : charging 
you, at the same time, before God and the Lord Jesus 
Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead, at his 
appearing and kingdom, preach the word: be in- 
stant in season, and out of season : reprove, exhort, 
rebuke, with all long-suffering, and patience. Hold- 
ing fast the faithful word, as you have been taught, 
that you may be able to convince the gainsayers. — - 
And now may the God of peace, who brought again 
from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd 
of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting 
Covenant, make you perfect in every good work, to 
do his will : working in you that which is well pleas- 
ing in his sight, through Jesus Christ : to whom be 
glory for ever. Amen. 



54 



CHARGE TO THE PEOPLE. 



It has also become my duty, on this solemn, and pe- 
culiarly interesting occasion, to address a few words 
to the members of this congregation. 

My beloved Christian brethren, He who watches 
over the interests of his Zion, and who for this 
purpose, is represented as walking in the midst of 
his golden candlesticks, has this day given an assured 
evidence that he has neither forsaken, nor forgotten 
you. God has this day answered your petitions. 
From the heights of his sanctuary, upon the holy 
hill of Zion above, he has beheld the afflictions and 
difficulties under which you have been struggling, 
and has at length fulfilled your wishes, by granting 
you a Pastor — a Pastor, we trust, after his own 
heart : one who will go in and out before you, and 
feed you with knowledge and with understanding. 
. . . . On this auspicious occasion, then, while 
we tender most sincerely our Christian congratula- 
tions, we would, at the same time, unite with you 
in devout thanksgiving to our common Lord and 
Saviour, for this renewed instance of his grace. It 
is with gratitude, as well as joy, that we hail this 
event as a token for great good : not only as a pre- 
cious pledge of Christ's acknowledgment of you as 
his people \ but of his continued merciful remem- 



55 

brance of this portion of his vineyard. Fear not, 
little flock, for the Lord will have mercy upon Zion 
in this city of our solemnities. We believe, my bre- 
thren, (and we rejoice in the confidence inspired 
by this belief) that the church in which we are 
now convened, has been built upon the foundation 
of the Prophets and Apostles — Jesus Christ himself 
being the chief-corner stone. We believe that God 
has thoughts of peace towards this church, and not 
of evil : that he will give it an expected end of all 
its troubles — water it abundantly with the dews of 
heaven — build it up by the mighty workings of his 
own Spirit — and establish it as Mount Zion, which 
cannot be moved. 

In order, however, that this object may be ac- 
complished, it must not be forgotten, that there are 
important duties to be discharged, as well by the 
members of this congregation, as by our beloved 
brother whom you have this day received to be your 
future Pastor. 

That he may be successful in building up your 
church, in winning souls to Christ, and in edifying 
those who are of the household of faith, it will be 
necessary that you should help him forward in his 
work. That your liberality will keep him above the 
reach of temporal want, and of course unembarrassed 
with any secular employment, is what the Presbytery 
take for granted. And more than this, we believe 



56 

that you will bid him God speed, in all his future 
labours : that you will wish him success in every 
Christian and benevolent undertaking ; and that his 
publick ministrations may be followed up with an 
enriching blessing from above. And this, as far as 
it goes, is certainly all very well. But, brethren, it 
is not enough. Commendable as it is, something 
more is still wanting. There are too many in the 
world, I am well aware, who, after they have gone 
thus far ; after they have settled their Pastor, — made 
suitable provision for his temporal support, and com- 
forted him with their congratulations, and general 
good wishes, are in the habit of supposing, that then 
they have done every thing, which, for persons iu 
their situation, was either necessary or proper. And 
were nothing more expected, or desired 5 than the 
mere exercises of the pulpit, on each returning sab- 
bath, this, perhaps, would be sufficient. But, my 
brethren, something more than this is expected, and 
something more ought to be expected. The Chris- 
tian Minister, who trembles under the awful weight 
of responsibility, which rests upon him as an Ambas- 
sador of Jesus Christ, feels for the eternal welfare of 
the people of his charge. He longs for the salvation 
of their immortal souls : pants for seasons of refresh- 
ing from the presence of the Lord, that the fruits of 
his labours may be seen in the pious and godly con- 
versation of his flock And unless his 



57 

people stand by him — unless they hold up his hands, 
by their united and importunate wrestlings at the 
throne of grace — unless they give him their decided 
countenance and support ; and, in some measure, la- 
bour with him, he must inevitably sink under the 
burden. It is almost impossible that any thing else 
should be expected. He would find himself beating 
incessantly against a strong and impetuous current ; 
which, unless ultimately counteracted by the inter- 
posing arm of Omnipotence himself, would render 
all his pious and well-directed efforts completely fruit- 
less and unavailing. 

We charge you, therefore, to remember this : and 
while your Pastor is labouring, and praying, and 
striving to promote your eternal interests, give him 
your most unlimited countenance. Cheerfully help him 
forward in his arduous work, by your actions, as 
well as your wishes : give him a cordial welcome 
into your families : make his publick ministrations 
efficacious, by your united prayers : aid him by your 
counsel, in administering the discipline of the church : 
and make that discipline to be inspected; not only 
by a determination to see it rigidly enforced upon 
others ; but by cheerfully submitting to it when it is 
found necessary that it should be exercised upon your- 
selves. Without this, our book of discipline would be- 
come a mere dead letter; and, for all the good it would 
produce, might as well be thrown away at once. 

8 



58 

Give your Minister sufficient time to study ; and 
occasional opportunities for relaxation from the duties 
of the study. There is, I find, a very mistaken im- 
pression gone abroad in the world, with respect to 
this matter also. Multitudes suppose, that, as a 
Clergyman has but little bodily labour to undergo, 
therefore the life which he lives, must of necessity be 
a very easy one, to say the least of it ; if not a very 
lazy one. They seem to imagine, that he ought to 
be able to preach not only at any time, but at all 
times : and that, too, with the same appropriateness 
of subject — the same excellency and variety of matter 
— the same elegance and polish of diction — and the 
same animation and impressiveness of manner. And 
it is a fact, that he is often made the subject of se- 
vere censure and animadversion, because he will not 
preach more than three or four times in a week, be- 
sides attending to all his other parochial duties. If, 
brethren, Ministers at the present day are influenced 
in the same manner as the Apostles were, i. e. by 
the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, this impression 
is then undoubtedly correct. If, however, it appear, 
that they are nothing more than mere men after all — 
prepossessed of nothing more than ordinary capaci- 
ties, and capable of acquiring nothing except through 
the same means which are made use of for this pur- 
pose by other persons ; that is, by the most patient, 
laborious, and persevering exertions : — if this be true. 



59 

as it most assuredly is, the impression is not only an 
injurious one, but such as no person of generous 
feeling ought to harbour in his bosom for a single 
moment. I am no advocate for indolence, among 
any class of people : much less among the Clergy. I 
know that much is expected of them — much ought 
to be expected of them : and if they perform their 
duty, in reference to the account which they must at 
last give of the manner in which they have discharged 
their Stewardship, I know they will never be satis- 
fied, without doing every thing that they well can do. 
But I must protest, and I do, most solemnly, against 
ever loading them with any burden, which they are 
not able to bear. Let them only be treated with the 
same deference to feeling, and the same regard to 
comfort, as other people are ; and if they are not sa- 
tisfied with this, they will have nobody to blame but 
themselves. 

If, then, my brethren, you wish your Minister to 
be respectable — if you expect instruction from his 
publick ministrations — if you desire him to present 
the truths of the Gospel in such a manner as to 
arrest, and keep up the attention — if you wish him 
to arouse those who are slumbering — to establish 
those who are wavering — to animate those who are 
desponding — to console those who are afflicted ; and 
in one word, to perform his duty with fidelity to him- 
self, and with benefit to you, we charge you, not to 



60 

lay too much upon him. Allow him always sufficient 
time to prepare himself beforehand : and never find 
fault with him for not doing, what in the nature of 
the case it was not possible that he could do. Be 
mutual helps and comforts to one another — forbear- 
ing one another, and forgiving one another in love. 
If there be any strife between you, let it always be 
who shall be most forward in advancing the interests 

of our Redeemer's kingdom And may 

the very God of peace be with you : may his bless- 
ing which maketh rich, and addeth no sorrow, ever 
attend you : and may that endearing relation, into 
which you have now entered, be a source of con- 
tinued comfort — a cause of incessant gratitude ; and, 
to multitudes, the commencement of everlasting fe- 
licity and joy. Amen. 



THE END. 



